


ode to sleep (i’ll protect you)

by amargeet



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Josh Dun is a Sweetheart, Panic Attacks, Sad Tyler Joseph
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16108859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amargeet/pseuds/amargeet
Summary: Being alone always ends up bad for Tyler, but he thought he could get through the week without Jenna just fine.One night in, he was not.





	ode to sleep (i’ll protect you)

It was a bad night for Tyler. His thoughts were running through his mind at a million miles per second and breathing felt like a luxury.

His day had started off well, with him and Josh writing and playing new songs that they were nervous to let the fans hear, but soon Josh had to return home for the day. Jenna was off visiting family, so he was left alone at their house with only his thoughts as company.

Jenna had told him before she left that he should ask Josh to stay over with him while she was gone, but Tyler couldn’t bring himself to do so. Even though he knew that Josh wouldn’t mind – they had known each other for years, for God’s sake – he still hated making Josh upset when he spoke of his inner demons.

So he didn’t say a word of anything to Josh. Which turned out to be an incredibly bad idea as the first night without Jenna there his insomnia kicked in for the first time in weeks. While he had been having the time of his life in the past few months working on the story of Trench, it didn’t change the fact that when he was alone in silence his mind rebelled against him.

Hours passed but he didn’t even notice because of the fact he was trapped in his own mind.

It was past midnight when the sound of ringing covered up the sound of his mind if only for a moment. He wasn’t exactly of the right sort, so he didn’t wonder why he was being called so late.

Instead he instinctively reached out to his bedside table and answered the phone call.

He used the only effort he had to put the phone on speaker before setting it down next to him. Then he looked up at the ceiling.

_ So weak _ , his mind spat out, and he closed his eyes and willed it to disappear.

_ Pathetic— _

“Tyler? Hey, man, just wanted to check in on you. Jenna told me she was going to visit family– how are you doing?” The voice of Josh sounded over his phone and he reacted quickly. His eyes shot open and he sat up, grabbing the phone hastily. He turned up the sound and clung to it like it was a lifeline.

“Josh?” He asked back, his voice sounding feeble and misused. It shook even though he only spoke on word. As did his hands when all he got in response for a second was breathing.

“Oh, Tyler.” Josh finally responded, and he sounded so  _ sad. _ Tyler always forgot that he could tell how he was feeling with a single word. Tyler flinched. This was… this was what he had been trying to prevent. This wasn’t–

_ Useless. _

“Dude, why didn’t you call me? You know that I–”

“I… I couldn’t.” Tyler whispered. “No, no, no, shouldn’t be bothering be bothering you. Shouldn’t… Josh? I can’t  _ think.   _ Too much noise. Too much…”

“Tyler!” Josh shouted and with wide eyes Tyler dropped his phone on his lap. “You need to listen to me, okay? Breathe in… and out. In… and out.”

Tyler, slowly, followed Josh’s instructions and began to breathe in time with the drummers words.

“There you go.” Josh said as Tyler’s breathing came to an almost complete calm. “Tyler, I’m going to come over, okay? Can you go to the door and open it for me. Just stay on the line…  _ please _ .”

Tyler focused his entire being on listening to Josh and following his instructions.

“Okay…” he quietly replied.

It was all he could to try and ignore his own thoughts.

He slowly pushed himself off his bed, grabbing his phone in his hand tightly. Upon setting his feet on the ground he slammed his toes into the concer of his bedside table.

He let out a loud hiss of pain that must of echoed over the phone.

“Tyler?” Josh asked loudly, sounding incredibly worried.

“Fine. I’m fine.” Tyler whimpered, and ignored Josh’s worried ‘are you sure?’ as he made it to the door. He opened it with one hand and continued down the hallway with pain in his foot. The pain distracted him from his mind, and that was a complete and utter  _ relief _ , but he tried to ignore that. He wasn’t about to go back to that way of thinking, not now.

“I won’t be long.” Josh promised over the line, “just wait for me, Tyler.”

Tyler made it to the front door and unlocked it with shaking fingers. Then he stepped back and dropped to the ground by the wall. He leaned against that wall and waited.

“Josh?” he asked, and received a hum in reply. Josh was obviously driving now.

“Thank you.” He continued, “I’m sorry for this.” He stared at the door in front of him, focusing on the pain of his toes so he was able to speak to Josh.

He got no reply over the phone, but then he heard a car pull up outside and moments later the door was opened. Josh rushed in, threw his car keys on the table by the door, and collapsed onto his knees in front of Tyler. He opened his arms and Tyler fell into them, focusing only on the sensation of Josh’s warmth.

“You don’t need to say sorry for anything.” Josh whispered to him, “I’m here now. Just… tell me next time, okay, Tyler? I  _ want  _ to be there for you.”

“Okay… okay.” Tyler whispered back, and he clutched Josh close to him. He couldn’t be sure he’d stay true to his word, but he would try. He would  _ try _ .

He was too exhausted to get back up, but Josh seem d to know that and picked Tyler up bridal style. He took them both to Tyler’s room.

Josh placed him on the bed and took his spot beside him. He took one of Tyler’s hands in his own.

“Now sleep, Tyler. I’ll stay here with you and try to calm those thoughts of yours. Go to sleep.”

Tyler blinked at him and slowly nodded. Now that he thoughts had quietened he felt drained.

“Thank you.” He whispered, and his eyes closed.

Josh smiled, held Tyler’s hand in his own, and watched over him through the night, protecting his best friend as he would always do.


End file.
